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The price of OPEC basket of thirteen crudes stood at $41.38 a barrel on Wednesday, compared with $39.88 the previous day, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations.
The new OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB) is made up of the following: Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Oriente (Ecuador), Minas (Indonesia), Iran Heavy (Islamic Republic of Iran), Basra Light (Iraq), Kuwait Export (Kuwait), Es Sider (Libya), Bonny Light (Nigeria), Qatar Marine (Qatar), Arab Light (Saudi Arabia), Murban (UAE) and Merey (Venezuela).
Meanwhile, Reuters reports that Oil prices jumped about 3 percent on Wednesday, hitting new highs for 2016 as the dollar weakened after the Federal Reserve announced it would leave U.S. interest rates unchanged.
Oil had risen early, the day after an industry group said U.S. crude inventories had dropped in the latest week. But prices retreated after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported in the morning that crude stocks climbed 2 million barrels last week to an all-time peak of 540.6 million barrels.
A Reuters poll of analysts had forecast a build of 2.4-million barrels.
In early afternoon, the Fed announced it was leaving interest rates unchanged, and issued a statement implying it was in no hurry to raise rates. Futures of Brent and U.S. crude’s West Texas Intermediate (WTI) surged minutes before settlement, hitting new peaks for the year as the dollar sank to session lows.
“Bullish momentum from a technical perspective, in cahoots with dovish Fed rhetoric, has this market on fire again despite the crude inventories we’re seeing,” said Matt Smith, director of commodities research at New York-headquartered Clipperdata.
Source: http://classfmonline.com/1.8996744